Around Here Week 22: 05/30-06/05

 A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment. 

Mimi with 9 of her 13 great grandchildren!

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 160+ hours (of 1000)
Lots of time earned this week at the soccer and baseball fields. We are snacking and hanging out under the back porch and if I said it once I've said it an infinite amount of times: How did we live in this house for 9 years without a back porch!? 

Reading nothing. too much else to juggle and then sleep. hah! That's okay, I'm giving myself a grace period right now. 

Snagging flowers and some 'cheater' plants for our garden at Stuvers. We picked up the plants I wanted for our porch planter boxes and then per usual also bought a handful of perrenials for the back rock garden to add some more pops of color (a little more every year! We planted those white/purple iris bulbs two years ago and crossed our fingers. This year, they came up gloriously!) We also got a few already grown ("cheater") veggie plants for our garden because we are a little stressed that our seedbabies aren't going to grow until October at this rate, if ever! So we got about two of each veggie plant just to make sure we get something out of this garden!

Snuggling up with Olive. Grey actually said this week, "All she does is sleep, Mum." and I smiled and nodded knowing that this little window of a sleeping, snuggling newborn is so very short. I told him to get his snuggles while he can because remember what happens - and then I pointed to Redland who at that moment was stabbing Rusty with a fake sword and laughing maniacally. 

Swooning over the little relationship Red and Olive are making together. I am very intentional about their interactions right now as he's so clunky and still really just a baby himself. But I never deter him from his interest in her; he can see her, kiss her, hold her, pet her whenever he wants and for as long (or little as he wants). He doesn't show any signs of jealous or meanness towards her because I am doing everything possible to make sure I have time for doing all baby type snuggling and singing and attention with him too - either the two of them together, or while she sleeps with just him. I need the two of them to be okay with each other because in the grand scheme of life when they are grown; their relationship together is going to weigh a bit more than my relationship with each of them. I need them to have each other to go to and rely on. That's nearly the only thing I need. 

'Tis the season for birthday parties, Violet got to spend the day at Living Treasures zoo to celebrate Bria's (her bestie) birthday. And on Saturday, Violet and Rusty got an afternoon at the bounce house celebrating their friend, Waylon's birthday. 

Well check for our 2week old sweetie pie and she made it back up (exactly!) to birth weight. All was well for our sweetie pie and she is growing beautifully. 

Closing on our refinance of the mortgage/land loan. Yay! 

Singing Happy Birthday to our Rustman who turned a whole High Five this week! Just seems impossible actually, but five suits him pretty well. We sang over pancakes for breakfast (with whip cream!) and had pizza for dinner. We are planning a trip to the zoo in the next few weeks to celebrate too. How lucky we are to be Rust's family - he is hands-down the funniest, most thoughtful little fellow we know. 

Rejoicing for the end of the 20-21 school year! So bittersweet as it's another year that flew by and no matter how I try to grab at time, it just slips right through my fingers. But also - boy, did we really need to just get to the finish line of this year. I felt like we were barely duct taping it together to get to the last day of school. My endless gratitude to our teachers and staff and bus driver and lunch ladies and all the people that love, care, and encourage our kids everyday throughout the school year. YOU are part of our village and our kids are who they are because you cheer them on and find ways to support them each day. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.  

Taking the first swim of the year at Pappy and Gigi's house on the last day of school. The kids are nuts because it was FREEZING. I only dipped a toe in and was like NOPE. But even despite their blue lips and quivering chins, they swam for about an hour!

Sporting with 3 baseball games for Grey this week. Gem had 2 tournament team practices, 2 soccer games, and a soccer tournament on Saturday. Violet and Rust each had 3 soccer games this week including one on Rusty's birthday so we brought cupcakes to celebrate after the game with his teammates. B played with our Roxbury volleyball team too on Tuesday. 

Making shredded bbq chicken sandwiches, spaghetti, and buffalo chicken dip. B and I had 2 green chefs this week: Pea Falafel pitas and plant-based protein flautas while the kids happily chowed on leftovers and cereal. We also graciously accepted delivered meals from our sweet Miss Hannah who stopped for a visit with pulled pork and green beans and later in the week, Miss Joan from Brandon's office stopped by to deliver pulled pork, mac & cheese, and ice cream sandwiches for the kids. (Thank you!!) I whipped up some pumpkin roll for my birthday boy for dessert too.